Non-radiative recombination centers in GaAs 0·6P 0·4 red light-emitting diodes

GaAs _0·6P _0·4 red light-emitting diodes constitute one of the most important commercial display technologies. The majority of the recombination in these p- n junction diodes is, however, non-radiative. This report describes the characterization of native defects in this material and provides evidence for non-localized, multiple and coupled-level defect centers. Thermal emission rates, photoionization cross sections, thermal capture coefficients, and the distribution of these defects in the GaAsP substrate have been determined. These native defects result in a nsec non-radiative lifetime for holes injected into n-type material and non-radiative space charge recombination current at these centers can account for a large portion of the forward bias current in GaAsP red light-emitting diodes.